S³ Transportation Lab: Smart, Safe & Sustainable Mobility

Current Team Member:

• Visiting Scholar/Post-Doctoral Researcher:

  1. Ms. Yizhe Yang, Visiting Scholar from Hebei University of Technology, September 2019 – December 2019

  2. Mr. Yu Pan, Visiting Scholar from Wuhan University of Science and Technology, March 2019 – July 2019

  3. Dr. Yongli Xu, Visiting Scholar from Northeast Forestry University, December 2016 – December 2017

  4. Dr. Honghai Zhang, Visiting Scholar from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, January 2016 – January 2017

• Ph.D. Major Advisor:

  1. Mr. Stefan Aljoe (Ph.D. Expected May 2030), MS/INES Ph.D. student, August 2025 – Present

  2. Mr. Zehao Wang (Ph.D. Expected December 2026), INES Ph.D. student, January 2024 – Present

  3. Dr. Chengying Hua (Ph.D., August 2024), Dissertation: “Dynamic Speed Harmonization and Synergistic Performance Evaluation in a Connected and Automated Vehicle Environment”; Current Employment: Assistant Professor, Ningbo University of Technology, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China

  4. Dr. Tianjia Yang (Ph.D., May 2024), Dissertation: “Transit Signal Priority Control With Connected Vehicle Technology: Deep Reinforcement Learning Approach”; Current Employment: Postdoctoral Researcher, The Pennsylvania State University

  5. Dr. Shaojie Liu (Ph.D. August 2022), Dissertation: “The Impact of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles on the Superstreets”; Current Employment: Assistant Professor, Henan University of Urban Construction, Pingdingshan, Henan, China

  6. Dr. Li Song (Ph.D. August 2022), Dissertation: “Impacts of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles on Deep Reinforcement Learning Controlled Intersection Systems”; Current Employment: Associate Professor, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China

  7. Dr. Bo Qiu (Ph.D. December 2021), Dissertation: “Travel time forecasting on a freeway corridor: a dynamic information fusion model based on machine learning approaches”; Current Employment: Duke Energy, Charlotte, NC

  8. Dr. Zijing Lin (Ph.D. December 2020), Dissertation: “Evaluating the potential use of crowdsourced bicycle data for cycling activities and safety analysis”;  Current Employment: Assistant Professor, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, Liaoning, China

  9. Dr. Pengfei Liu (Ph.D. December 2020), Dissertation: “Impact of connected and autonomous vehicles on mobility of highway systems”; Current Employment: Assistant Professor, Department of Transportation System Engineering, School of Business, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China

  10. Dr. Yang Li (Ph.D. December 2020), Dissertation: “The use of machine learning method for modeling and analyzing pedestrian crash data and comparisons with traditional discrete choice modeling methods”; Current Employment: Research Associate, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 

  11. Dr. Zhen Chen (Ph.D. December 2019), Dissertation: “Use of multisensor data in modeling freeway travel time: variability analysis and prediction”; Current Employment: Traffic Engineer, Parsons Corporation, Atlanta, GA

  12. Dr. Miao Yu (Ph.D. December 2018), Dissertation: “Optimal variable speed limit control for mixed traffic flows in a connected and autonomous vehicle environment”; Current Employment: Associate Professor, Hohai University, Nanjing City, JiangSu Province, China

  13. Dr. Linfeng Gong (Ph.D. December 2017), Dissertation: “Applying travel time reliability measures in identifying and ranking freeway bottlenecks at the network level”; Current Employment: Bank of America, Charlotte, NC

• M.S. Major Advisor:

  1. Ms. Ruth Kandolo (M.S., December 2022), Course Option

  2. Mr. Jeremy Shue (M.S., December 2022), Course Option

  3. Mr. Kiavash Riahipour (M.S., December 2020), Current Employment: Demand Allocation and Optimization Analyst at bp, Chicago, IL

🎓 Join the S³ Transportation Lab: Smart, Safe & Sustainable Mobility 

Multiple funded Ph.D. opportunities are available, with starting dates as early as January 2027.

Research areas include transportation engineering and planning, AI/ML, transportation safety, CAVs, public transportation, traffic operations, and transportation modeling.

[Explore Graduate Research Opportunities → ]

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